NOTE: This post might be graphic-intensive, so might take a while to load on a mobile device.

NOTE: I absolutely love this program! Do yourself a favor and download it now. Give it a go for the 45-day free trial. If you like it, pay for it. If not, then don’t pay. Smiple! 😉 I am finding it more and more indispensable! Don’t be afraid to report bugs to the author, he can’t fix them if he doesn’t know about them. I’ve asked for enhancements, and he has added some of them. He usually responds within a day!

It’s different from my spreadsheet, and a lot less work for me. The TDM software gets the dividend dates, ex-dividend dates, etc. It then calculates the expected dividends, and is often closer to actual dividends received than my spreadsheet! So, I just post the screenshots here each week to let you all have a look at what the software is doing for me as far as recording stock buys & sells, dividends, etc.

I will set up the Merrill Edge accounts to DRIP dividends since there is a possibility I might be getting a discount. I love discounts! I love dividends! Discounted dividend stock sends me into a slight euphoria! (Not now, but maybe later…)

So, first I look at the accounts;

This window pops up if you have more than one account and click the account name in the lower left corner. You can also set the location for the program data here.

For this post, I am going to look at the portfolio view(s) for each account, and we’ll take it from the top, so first on the list is IRAP and then we’ll continue down the list one by one.

Ready? Here we go…

IRAP

You can see the columns from left to right give information on the Symbol, the Name of the holding, the % change for the last or current trading day, the current price, the price I paid (PPS), a chart for the past month (21 trading days), etc. The rest are pretty straightforward, but the last is obfuscated by a couple of icons. Those last two are total NET (gain or loss) including distributions and the last one has dividend ‘star’ ratings (indicates stability and/or dividend growth). The 2 icons at the top of the last column allow you to export to a spreadsheet, or print.

Now, down at the bottom are the totals and the expected dividends are totaled, showing I can expect $34.66 this month. If I click on the amount I get a popup window (not shown) showing this month’s distributions along with what has already been received and what I have yet to receive.

There’s a dropdown menu in that popup window where I can select all linked portfolios and the display changes to show all dividends for those linked portfolios! There’s also a box I can check if I want to see all the dividends grouped instead of 4 different dividends for the same symbol!

You can sort by stock symbol, date (default sort), distribution amount, and portfolio!

If you click on a few rows the program tallies the dividends for just those rows separately, and shows the subtotal when you hover the mouse in the window, and also shows it separately at the bottom along with the total for the entire month.

If you scroll to the bottom of the window, you can see what I’ve already received this month, what I have yet to receive (it even estimates based on historical declarations if necessary), the total I’ll receive this month, and the highlighted rows tally show what I’ll receive from the highlighted rows.

Here’s the dividend calendar for this account;

Now, on to the next account!

PandA

Now, down at the bottom are the totals and the expected dividends are totaled, showing I can expect $139.88 this month.

Here’s the dividend calendar for this account;

Now, on to the next account!

RothA

Again, down at the bottom are the totals and the expected dividends are totaled, showing I can expect $508.81 this month.

Here’s the dividend calendar for this account;

Now, on to the next account!

RothP

Again, down at the bottom are the totals and the expected dividends are totaled, showing I can expect $381.42 this month.

Here’s the dividend calendar for this account;

One of the things I like about Merrill Edge is they project expected dividends. Here’s a view of all of our accounts;

Adding all the monthly dividend predictions, I come up with a grand total of $1,566.88 for last month (I cheated, I used that new feature in TDM to get that amount!). This month’s projected income is $1,064.77. Next month’s projected income is $1,069.08. The holdings that pay quarterly affect this total for each month depending on which issue is paying or not paying. Also, some of the dividends for this month might not yet have been declared so the program makes an historical guess so the amount could, and does, change. Confusing? Yeah, but it keeps me busy…

I hope this helps. I also want to add that I am not paid or reimbursed in any way by the programmer. I just happen to love the program and want to share.

Dustin, the programmer, is constantly updating the software with great new features. The DRIP feature is new, and I love it!

Anyway, as you can see, the dividend info for my stocks and CEFS is pulled quite easily and automatically into the program.

Now, you might have noticed that some of the pay dates are highlighted in green. I set it up that way so I’d know what dividends to expect in the next 7 days. I could have set it up to show upcoming dividends for the next month, but that would have been almost ALL of them since all but 17 pay monthly!

Another thing you might have noticed is that some of the amounts are highlighted in blue. That indicates a change in the next payment. Hover the mouse over it and I can see if it’s more or less. For now, I’ll keep *you* guessing. Gotta have some kind of tease going on, right? 😉

One more thing; this is an old feature that I just found out about when I was requesting some new functionality. The ex-dividend list is available from the menu at the top (List, Ex-Dividend List). I clicked on options and selected 7 days and got a list going ex-dividend next week. Sweet!

I’m not telling anyone to buy anything or giving anyone any advice, because that’s illegal. You see, I have no letters after my name, like RIA, CFA, etc. I SIMPLY DO NOT GIVE ADVICE. I only tell (and show!) what I do. You, like me, are all alone in this.